Array

to place in proper or desired order; marshal:
napoleon arrayed his troops for battle.
to clothe with garments, especially of an ornamental kind; dress up; deck out:
she arrayed herself in furs and diamonds.
order or arrangement, as of troops drawn up for battle.
military force, especially a body of troops.
a large and impressive grouping or organization of things:
he couldn’t dismiss the array of facts.
regular order or arrangement; series:
an array of figures.
a large group, number, or quant-ty of people or things:
an impressive array of scholars; an imposing array of books.
attire; dress:
in fine array.
an arrangement of interrelated objects or items of equipment for accomplishing a particular task:
thousands of solar cells in one vast array.
mathematics, statistics.

an arrangement of a series of terms according to value, as from largest to smallest.
an arrangement of a series of terms in some geometric pattern, as in a matrix.

computers. a block of related data elements, each of which is usually identified by one or more subscripts.
radio. .
contemporary examples

cooks eye the array the fishermen have brought in, picking the one they will slide before kin or client.
what to eat: light greek meal cookstr.com may 31, 2010

there were satin dresses, cascading trench coats, and an array of perfectly tailored trousers.
are birkenstocks cool again? céline, giambattista valli & more (photos) misty white sidell november 26, 2012

as a bald man with an array of secret talents and p-ssions, vin diesel literally wears many hats.
vin diesel’s 6 greatest youtube masterpieces amy zimmerman january 28, 2014

instead, an array of outlets defend the budding models and their independent careers.
the famous parents modeling club erin cunningham may 27, 2014

thumb to any given page, and the array is stunning and absurdist.
the a-z dictionary of google images—for the moment sarah moroz february 24, 2014

historical examples

this array of names made the english blush for the manner in which they had treated their hero.
blackwood’s edinburgh magazine, vol. 60, no. 374, december, 1846 various

they set the battle in array, they uttered cries of defiance.
the babylonian legends of the creation british museum

he wrote: ‘the array of talent is no doubt imposing, but far too much of the music is of an inferior stamp.
musical criticisms arthur johnstone

howbeit, what an array of masters and knights have we, and what a variety!
the book of khalid ameen rihani

the manner in which dr. lightfoot tries to meet the array of evidence opposed to him is somewhat extraordinary.
the ignatian epistles entirely spurious william dool killen

noun
an impressive display or collection
an orderly or regular arrangement, esp of troops in battle order
(poetic) rich clothing; apparel
(maths) a sequence of numbers or symbols in a specified order
(maths) a set of numbers or symbols arranged in rows and columns, as in a determinant or matrix
(electronics) an arrangement of aerials sp-ced to give desired directional characteristics, used esp in radar
(law) a panel of jurors
the arming of military forces
(computing) a regular data structure in which individual elements may be located by reference to one or more integer index variables, the number of such indices being the number of dimensions in the array
verb (transitive)
to dress in rich attire; adorn
to arrange in order (esp troops for battle); marshal
(law) to draw up (a panel of jurors)
v.

early 14c., from stem of old french areer “to put in order,” from vulgar latin -ar-redare (source of italian arredare), from latin ad- “to” (see ad-) + frankish -ræd- “ready” or some cognate germanic source, from proto-germanic -raidjan “to place in order” (cf. gothic garadis, old english geræde “ready;” see ready (adj.)). related: arrayed; arraying.
n.

mid-14c., “order, arrangement,” from anglo-french arrai, old french aroi, from areer (see array (v.)).
array
(ə-rā’)

mathematics a rectangular arrangement of quant-ties in rows and columns, as in a matrix.

numerical data ordered in a linear fashion, by magnitude.

1. a collection of identically typed data items distinguished by their indices (or “subscripts”). the number of dimensions an array can have depends on the language but is usually unlimited.
an array is a kind of aggregate data type. a single ordinary variable (a “scalar”) could be considered as a zero-dimensional array. a one-dimensional array is also known as a “vector”.
a reference to an array element is written something like a[i,j,k] where a is the array name and i, j and k are the indices. the c language is peculiar in that each index is written in separate brackets, e.g. a[i][j][k]. this expresses the fact that, in c, an n-dimensional array is actually a vector, each of whose elements is an n-1 dimensional array.
elements of an array are usually stored contiguously. languages differ as to whether the leftmost or rightmost index varies most rapidly, i.e. whether each row is stored contiguously or each column (for a 2d array).
arrays are appropriate for storing data which must be accessed in an unpredictable order, in contrast to lists which are best when accessed sequentially. array indices are integers, usually natural numbers, whereas the elements of an -ssociative array are identified by strings.
2. a processor array, not to be confused with an array processor.
(2007-10-12)